Shower beating in Md. prison

A Maryland corrections official says an inmate at the Jessup Correctional Institution was injured when he was beaten in the shower.

Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Mark Vernarelli says the 21-year-old inmate serving 40 years for murder sustained head injuries in the beating at the maximum security facility in Jessup on Wednesday.

Vernarelli says the inmate was able to walk to the medical area and was alert, but was sent out to Shock Trauma as a precaution due to the head wound.

The youngest inmates are often the targets of violent sexual assaults by two or more assailants, especially in the bathrooms and showers, where nudity is not uncommon. Apparently, this young man is good at hand to hand combat and prevailed. Of course, there will be a next time involving five or more assailants. www.spr.org and Human Rights Watch No Escape detail the horrifying reality.